Having been an ardent supporter of contemporary representational art since the early 1990s, stretching the spectrum from the hyperreal to the nearly abstract, I’m happy to introduce this special section on modern art, which we’re defining as encompassing “any painting or sculpture that toys with the edge of the representational all the way into the realm of the purely abstract.”
Several decades before taking up the banner of “realist” art, I worked at what was then the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York, which has an extraordinary collection of 20th century non-objective art assembled primarily by two gifted and insightful men, the benefactor Seymour Knox and the museum’s then director Gordon Smith and his successors.
I have to admit that in the beginning I didn’t “get it.” I sat in front of the art, studied, met the artists and asked countless questions of our associate director, Jim Wood, who would go on to head the Art Institute of Chicago and later, the J. Paul Getty Trust. I came to understand modern art’s place in history, its roots and its ability to expand awareness and expression.
When I was in Buffalo, I knew of Peter Stephens but we had never met until he had an exhibition here in Santa Fe last November. I had, however, included one of his paintings inspired by the photographer Eugène Atget in an exhibition at the Arnot Art Museum in Elmira, New York. His work at that time was a “look at the way nostalgia and romanticism is codified through an overlay of historical and cultural distance.” Since then, he has explored the science of pattern inspired by the “fundamental forces of nature.”
Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av American Art Collector.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av American Art Collector.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Guardians of the Temple – Simon Dinnerstein reflects on The Fulbright Triptych 50 years later.
The Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State University exhibits Simon Dinnerstein's The Fulbright Triptych haunts the visual lexicon of 20th century American representational art. Fifty years have passed since Dinnerstein completed the painting in 1974.
A City Perspective
Leslie Gaduzo has always been interIested in art. Since childhood, he has been drawing constantly, from single point perspective drawings at age 10 to complex architectural drawings.
Living Legacy
The Butler Institue hosts Allied Artists of America's 110th Annual Juried Exhibition.
Elegant yet Approachable
The second edition of the RTIA Show presents even more art to explore and expanded special programming.
Figuratively Speaking
New York has always been an epicenter of artists on the edge of excellence, pushing the envelope and finding their voices.
JAMES AYERS: The Importance of Play
Like many artists, James Ayers' work took a turn during the Covid-19 pandemic. Seeing the enjoyment his kids took from playing with paint in his studio and exploring their creativity inspired him.
GINA MINICHINO: Playing with Food
Gina Minichino started her journey in visual arts because of Charles Schulz. \"He was my earliest influence for drawing and the reason I wanted to be a cartoonist,\" she says.
Island Light
The Cuttyhunk Island Artists' Residency is held in a sprawling, 100-year-old house on an island off the southern coast of Massachusetts.
Solitary Forms
Hogan Brown has been working with Arcadia Contemporary for two and half years and is excited to be featured in his first solo show at the gallery. He doesn't take for granted the many talented figurative painters Arcadia represents and is thrilled to be among them.
Living the Dream
Counterintuitively, David Gluck was a painter before taking up tattooing little more than a decade ago. While skin is a completely different substrate and ink a far cry from oil paint, the skills must be transferrable to some degree because there is a wait-time of nine months to get an appointment with him.